Bowling Industry News

Storm staffer Anita Manns of Houston might have slowed her pace slightly during the second round of qualifying at the 2012 United States Bowling Congress Queens, presented by Storm Bowling Products on Saturday, but she continues to lead the field.

Manns averaged 206 during the second round, and her 2,265 total after 10 games leads fellow staffer Diandra Asbaty of Chicago by 14 pins. Manns had games of 194, 178, 214, 207 and 237 during the morning block and was a little surprised she was able to hold onto the lead.

"I definitely thought the scores were going to be a lot higher on the last squad, but I know they were tough out there," Manns said. "So, I'm surprised (to be leading), but happy all at the same time."

Asbaty closed with a 247 game and has a 2,251 total, while Kelly Kulick of Union, N.J., started the afternoon squad with games of 256 and 248 and is third with 2,242.

Storm's Lindsay Baker of Brigham City, Utah, averaged 231 on the morning squad to move from 19th to fourth with games of 247, 211, 223, 252 and 223 for a 2,236 total.

"I felt like I was doing the right things, tried to buckle down, make my spares, make good shots and it worked out today, so I'm excited," Baker said.

USBC Hall of Famer and Storm staffer Leanne Hulsenberg, who won Bowling's U.S. Women's Open last year, made an even bigger move. She averaged 242 in the second round to jump from 87th to 10th place at 2,153. She said her young son, Barrett, has been a little sick, and she finally was able to get a good night's sleep.

"No excuses, we were just more ready to bowl today," Hulsenberg said.

The 131-player field was cut to the top 64 after Saturday's second round. The remaining players will bowl five additional qualifying games on Sunday morning before the field is cut to the top 47, who will join defending champion Missy Parkin in the double-elimination match-play bracket, which begins at 1:30 p.m. Eastern on Sunday. The final five players will advance to the televised stepladder finals.

BOWL.com's BowlTV will have live coverage of the match-play rounds. The finals, which will be held at the International Training and Research Center in Arlington, Texas, will be televised live on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.

For the 2012 USBC Queens, only 48 players advance to the bracket portion of the event with the top 16 players after qualifying receiving a first-round bye. The final two players in the winners bracket will be assured a spot on the television show, while the final three spots on the show will come from the contenders bracket.

The qualifying and match-play portions of the Queens are open to the public at no charge.

For more information and full results from the USBC Queens, visit BOWL.com/Queens.